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Milwaukee Tool just held its 2018 New Product Symposium last week and this year, and like every other year, they unveiled a ton of new tools. This was my third year attending Milwaukee’s annual new tools show, and one of the things I’ve learned to pay attention to is how other contractors, reviewers, and social media personalities react to the tools that are introduced.

So to start off the coverage this year, I picked the tools that I believe made the biggest impact on the attendees. Keep in mind this is just an overview of the tools, we’ll follow up with deeper dives on each of the new tools later.

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Stuart just wrote about the new M18 High Output batteries last week, and how Milwaukee is doubling down on their M18 Product line. With that in mind, let’s start off with a product designed to utilize this new battery: the M18 Fuel Table Saw.

M18 Fuel Table Saw

One of the most impressive new “Next Breakthrough” tools was the M18 Fuel 8-1/4” table saw with One-Key. Frankly I wasn’t sure that you’d be able to run a table saw on 18V, let alone have it perform seemingly as well as a corded jobsite saw.

Running on only a single HD12.0 battery, the table saw was able to rip a 2x material at 45° while maintaining a decent feedrate. And on that single HD12.0 battery, the table saw can rip up to 600 linear feet of 3/4″ OSB.

What happens if you don’t have a new High Output battery? They said that you could use any M18 battery, but we wanted to see that for ourselves, so they demoed the saw ripping a 2×4 with an M18 5.0 battery. It was able to make the cut, but it definitely sounded like it was working harder.

With the rack-and-pinion fence, the saw has a rip capacity of 24-1/2″ and can make cuts up to 2-1/2″ deep. One-Key integration allows you to track the saw, and it also has a lock-out feature that prevents unauthorized people from using it.

The table saw kit is launching July 2018, while the bare saw will be available in January of 2019.

M18 Fuel Chainsaw

Another product designed to take advantage of the new High Output batteries is the M18 Fuel 16″ chainsaw. Milwaukee is claiming it cuts faster than a 40cc gas chainsaw and will make up to 150 cuts in 6×6 cedar on one HD12.0 battery.

Watching this 14 lbs and 33″ long saw race a Stihl chainsaw through a 12″ ash log was impressive. It seemed to easily cut through the hardwood, while the gas saw bogged down in the middle of the cut… wait a minute.

After looking at this video again, I’m seeing some problems. It looks like the M18 Fuel chainsaw is cutting the top of the log, which is slightly smaller in diameter than the bottom. You can also see the gas chainsaw is spitting out fine dust while the M18 is spitting out chips (look at the ground). It would have been interesting to get them to swap chains and run them again.

Anomalies aside, it still looks like an impressive performance for an 18V chainsaw. I tested Dewalt’s 20V chainsaw recently and this M18 Fuel chainsaw seems like it would smoke that one.

I think the simple visual of the face cord (single row, 4×8 foot stack) of firewood below sums up the saw’s abilities when running on a single charge of a HD12.0 battery.

The M18 Fuel chainsaw launches as a kit with a HD12.0 battery in July 2018.

M18 Fuel 7″/9″ Angle Grinder

Milwaukee is claiming their new M18 Fuel 7″/9″ large angle grinder can generate the same power as a 15A corded angle grinder, while still being almost 2 lbs lighter that the other large angle grinders.

The trigger switch-style grinder can accept both 7″ and 9″ discs on a 5/8″-11 arbor and spin up to 6600 RPM.

It definitely can throw some sparks.

The M18 Fuel large angle grinder kit will launch July 2018.

M18 Fuel Backpack Vac

The M18 Fuel backpack vacuum can be worn like a backpack, but you can also remove the harness with a click of a button to carry it around or hang it up on ladders, scaffolding, or a 2×4.

The cyclonic vacuum can handle anything from sawdust to concrete dust to drywall dust. It has an low-off-high switch mounted on the vacuum.

It’s hard to get a sense of how quiet it is in the video because of the background noise and the speaker’s mic, but you could easily have a conversation while it’s running without having to raise your voice.

The M18 Fuel Backpack is set to launch September 2018.

Packout Expansion

Finally, what just about everybody was waiting for: more Packout stuff. Unfortunately we didn’t see the Packout radio this year, but they said they’ll be introducing 15 new Packout products next year.

First up is a wall mounting plate for storing your Packout boxes on the shop wall or securing your Packout stack in your vehicle.

Above you’ll see three more new Packout products, full-width and half-width low-profile organizers and a flat dolly. Stack two of the half-width organizers on top of one another and it’s the same size as a regular Packout organizer. The low-profile organizers are impact resistant, IP65 rated, and the lids keep the contents from spilling all over just like the full-height organizers.

The flat dolly can handle up to 250 lbs, has lockable castors, and a locking bar that you can step on to keep the stack from moving so you can dock and undock your packout cases.

The tool cases with foam inserts use a Kaizen-like layered foam — I asked and it is NOT from FastCap. You’ll notice there’s no aluminum rails on the sides of the case, which gives you a bit of extra room inside.

Lastly, Milwaukee introduced 15″ and 20″ tool bags that lock into the top of the stack.

The new Packout components will be launching between September and December of 2018.

Which of these new tools or storage products have made it onto your shopping list?

About Benjamen

Benjamen Johnson grew up watching his dad work as a contractor and woodworker. He became an electrical engineer and took an interest in woodworking. Check out Ben's projects at Ben's Workshop or follow him on twitter or instagram.

I don’t think you can ever really get accurate information from a manufacturer’s ad. Even if they aren’t trying to mislead you they’re never going to go to the effort of running a rigorous test (running tests multiple times, “blind” test administrators, etc).

you can clearly tell that the stihl has a dull chain: the shavings being dropped from the saw are small and jagged, more like sawdust, while the ones from the milwaukee saw are coarse and curly, which indicates a sharp blade.

Maybe they need to figure out why their current cordless nailers get so many bad reviews – and re-engineer them from the bottom up – before they introduce a framing nailer.

But for the M12 batter gauge – you would think that they could make them a wee bit longer and add a gauge.

With the mower – maybe they figure that its not a contractor (their target audience?) tool – leaving it to Ryobi to supply homeowners. My take is that they would expand the market – not cannibalize Ryobi sales.

If you like an upper body work out while you nail and don’t mind guessing where you aim. I waited a long time for Milwaukee to release cordless nailers, I am mightily disappointed and quite resentful . They are awful. Seems like I will be using Paslode until I finally quit . I can only think they would totally screw up the framing nailer as well.

They have a loyal consumer base. These releases in my opinion are catered to their loyal users. They are not “playing catxh up” at all. They are generating products that compare to other brands but serve those investes in the Milwaukee platform. Especially with the delivery of fully compatible high capacity Batts. You neither have to use two at a time(Makita) or invest in another line(flexvolt).

As far as nailers, why compete with Ridgid or ryobi sales? They may not be “the best” but they certainly handle most jobs.

Where is makitas cordless nailers? Their lighting? Where is DeWalts 12v? Where are the 12v impact wrenches with 250ft pounds? Where are the air snakes and backpack augurs and the storage capacity equal or better that packout as far as capability?

I’m in no way attempting to argue, nor am I a Milwaukee fan boy BUT show me more overall evolution of a tool company and its products over the last 8 yrs( besides what it happening with metabo hpt) and my thought resigns here….they keep the market competitive and produce some very useful gear in the meantime

I’m just saying that I wasn’t blown away with any innovations this year. All of the products that you mention are from past symposiums.

As far as 12v goes, I don’t see the point in it anymore. The tools are still expensive and the 18v sizes are comparable to 12v sizes. I used to own a bunch of M12 stuff, but sold everything except for the bandsaw and tubing cutter. Those two are great tools and I appreciate the compactness of them.

I agree that it’s great to show innovation to keep the market competitive. I think that’s apparent in Dewalt’s anouncement of a 12ah battery days before Milwaukee’s event. I look forward to innovation and realize that each brand is tailored differently.

We were talking with somebody from Acme tool and he said they were pretty much ordering it as fast as Milwaukee could make it and it’s still not enough.

>>If Milwaukee does not do something pretty quickly with availability they run the risk of losing enthusiastic first adopters.

Maybe, maybe not. There are several companies (notably Nintendo) that build there business around scarcity and they still seem to do fine. Many people are willing to wait, although I’m sure you’re right that there will be some who will just buy something else.

Yeah, I wish I would have taken some more photos, I have a few photos of the inside of the larger bag, there’s tool pockets along one of the sides.

I am unimpressed with the new pack out system. I’ve invested a lot of money over the years in organizing tools. I finally settled on Tstak. One reason and one reason only… Drawers ! I discovered that wheeling in a nice stack of tools on a nice cart into the job site and then spreading boxes all over the place to open them up, solved only half the problem. Drawers that lock together and stack on a cart solves all the problems . I take only the tools I need and they all stay on the cart .

I’m planning a full drawer setup but waiting to see the new Tough system drawers and whether Packout drawers come out. I really like Tstak drawers, but they’re a little too small for me. I’ll get more of them if the other stuff is too expensive however.

Nintendo operates in a very different market though. The stuff Nintendo has is exclusive to them. Your not going to play Mario on a PlayStation or X-Box. If you want Mario you wait for a Nintendo. Apple is in the same situation. iPhone users aren’t going to buy go buy an Android phone when they can’t get the new iPhone on launch day. They’re going to wait. I just don’t see that uniqueness in the tool storage market. Apple, Nintendo, and cordless tools have something that helps lock a user into their ecosystem. And until Milwaukee gets product on the shelves they’re going to struggle to do that. That first launch needed to be big and bold and flood the market. Not slowly trickle out and then all but vanish from stores shelves. Not many people want to invest in a new system that they’re not even sure if they’ll be able to expand on to when they need to.

I recently purchased Milwaukee’s 18 volt rocket light (the older model) not realizing they were going to release a new version. I wish I would have waited because I would love to have an AC cord on mine. I use it in my shop a lot and sometimes it’s just better to plug it in rather than adding extra charge cycles to my batteries! That M12 rocket light was pretty sweet though!

Which of these new tools or storage products have made it onto your shopping list?

The ones you haven’t talked about here: The next gen M18 Impact driver and Hammer Drill. Also, how come I can’t any info on those sweet new M12 impact wrenches that are supposedly capable of 250ft-lbs? I want that for my work NOW.

That backpack vac has my attention. Otherwise a solid meh. I mean I’d like to see a head to head with the Dewalt table saw that they copied using the current big flexvolt battery. Note I say the current flexvolt battery so you have new battery against new battery.

Honestly not expecting any difference in performance as I’m sure the milwaukee motor runs at well over 18 V nominal.

Question what stand goes with the table saw – I have to assume they have one.

Chainsaw comparison – I’d like to see it go against the Echo 58V cordless model with 4ah battery

I’m very excited about the new Fuel barrel-grip jigsaw! I hope it will be almost as good or close to Festool’s 18v Carvex. Judging by some Polish videos I’ve seen on youtube, it’s a very capable tool.

Stuart, did they talk about jigsaw blades? In Europe they have a blade called Milwaukee 3-cut, made in Germany, thicker than standard blades.

Current cordless jigsaw market is barren and if you want a barrel grip, your options are even more limited. There are models from Festool (very expensive, could use a bit more power), Metabo (no reviews, no accuracy record) and Makita (struggles with keeping cuts perpendicular). That’s it. Sure, there is M12 jigsaw with a barrel grip, but it’s utter crap suitable for cardboard crafts and nothing more.

Oh, and the table saw is such a rip-off of Dewalt’s model! Using only 1 18v battery to power it is an impressive fit, but the tool’s design is a copy-paste job. Same fence positioning, same fence with the ability to flip a part of it over for narrow rips, same throat plate, very similar on/off switch, same cut capacity, etc.

However, Milwaukee’s version is missing above the table dust collection, which is a big miss to me. I can run my Flexvolt almost dust-free indoors with above and below dust collection.

With that said, the M18 saw seems to be more powerful than Flexvolt. Also, Dewalt’s battery dies after 40 linear feet of 2x material.

Even on my phone, I can see a gleaming new bar and chain on the milwaukee while the gas one is some old saw with who knows how many hours on it, whatever old fuel, probably not maintained in a year, with a worn bar and a dull chain as it is only making fine dust as it cuts.

Plus, only ear plugs and standard glasses for safety??? Booo.

And, I don’t believe for one second that they cut that whole log rack of hardwood with one battery …

And, that is not a ” cord ” of wood. That would be three such rows, filling up an area of 4 x 4 x 8 at 16″ length.

In the photo you can see Face Cord and I clearly explained what a face cord was.

Can it cut that much wood? It’s in the realm of possibility. If their claims are inflated we’ll find out once they are shipping.

They were wearing chaps. Not sure if you were looking for a face shield? Gloves? There’s some controversy whether chaps are even useful with electric chain saws — that the electric motor has too much torque at low speed to get stuck in the fibers — but they are better than jeans.

I’m with you on the comparison, I’m not sure how it could be “accidental.”

I missed they were wearing chaps on a small screen. Gloves would be nice too. I have had a brand new chain jump off after retensioning …

One would hope the fibers would clog the drive area and force a shut down, just as with gas power …

I do like the start stop on my small electric chainsaw, but it is limited to pruning and felling small trees. Newer tech, bigger battery and all, I can’t quite imagine cutting more hard wood on a single battery than I can on a gas tank with my Husqvarna … especially after their stihl comparo.

I’ve just confirmed that Milwaukee won’t be releasing pricing until later this year.

That pricing sounds a little off. Both saws are supposed to ship with 5Ah batteries and presumably chargers, so $199 would be too low for a kit.

It’s possible somebody told them $199 for a bare tool, but again that isn’t official. And hopefully the bare tool is a little cheaper, but looking at competitors barrel grip saws, I’m not holding my breath.

The chainsaw video is clearly dishonest. This is exactly the reason I’m on here calling them out.

I highly suspect Milwaukee might also “cheat” by using different battery levels between the brands in their comparisons, and this is how:

When you have a battery fresh off the charger it will provide 20V for a while, and batteries always provide more power when they have more charge (i.e. the tools run much better with 3 or 4 bars compared to 1, they fade out towards the end). So, I think Milwaukee might use a fresh off the charger battery for their own tools (so 100% full and at 20V), but on the competitors tools they use batteries that still show 4 bars and appear to be freshly charged, but are actually very near the lowest end of 4 bars in charge (almost 3 bars, so voltage would be ~18V or less). They would have a noticeable difference in power. Don’t believe me? Try it out for yourself. Compare a fully charged battery to a slightly used battery that still shows 4 bars and “looks” fully charged but is actually not. There’s such a difference that you can hear it in the tool. Notice how Milwaukee likes to show the audience the battery levels before comparing, probably in an effort to “look” honest.

This would have an even more pronounced effect with Dewalt 20V batteries because they only have 3 bars. Each bar represents a wider range of charge, so the lowest end of the top bar would be a lower charge than with a 4 bar battery.

I’d like to see them pull all the batteries off chargers before starting (so we know they’re all 100% full and all at 20V).

Showing them fresh off the charger means nothing, same for the voltage. If they really wanted to fool you they could just swap out the battery cells. Throw in some batteries that are only capable of sustaining a 5 -10 amp draw instead of the 20-30 amp draw of most tool batteries and you could really make a tool look bad.

You have two choices, buy them or don’t. You can take the tests they have shown as legitimate or not, or wait for some third party groups to do some of their own “unbiased” testing and see what those results are but all this ridiculous speculation about battery levels is sounding pretty foil hat like. Milwaukee produces tools that lead and or rival the leading tools in the industry time and time again, test or no test I am confident their tools will perform at or very near the very top of the industry in their class.

There’s no reason why they needed to mislead on the chainsaw test if their chainsaw is actually as great as they say they it is. But they still did, so ask yourself why they did it. An Ego 56V would have been lucky to best a gas Stihl.

I’m sure the new chainsaw is a great 18V saw, in fact I think it will likely be the most powerful 18V chainsaw (with their HO battery). But I suspect it will also likely be the heaviest and least efficient (in cuts per ah).

If they produce leading tools then they don’t need to be this dishonest. In fact, skew it the opposite way, put their tool at a disadvantage and show that it can still best the competition.

I’ve read Milwaukee tools are the greatest but I’ve also read they’re cheaply made, unreliable, heavy, and inaccurate. Opinions seem to be polarised with big red.

Hear hear! Neighbor has a Stihl BATTERY powered chainsaw (not cheap). That thing kicked butt after the limbs that fell from the last Nor’easter Heavy Snow…

My only issue with these “cordless” saws is that they eat bar oil like mad. Even my Husq gas chainsaw eats bar oil, but has a much larger capacity than the cordless.

Question: do battery-powered Chainsaws have more instant torque than the gas? and if so, will saw chaps not work against cordless because they are instant and more torque? (I ask because the Stihl dealer was telling a county worker about how the saw chaps aren’t as effective vs battery saws…) Thoughts?

My money is going towards the things you didn’t mention: the new M12 fuel stubby impact wrenches in 1/4 & 3/8 drive, the new M12 cutoff tool, their new 90 tooth hand ratchet, exploring their new socket sets, redesigned for 2018 screwdrivers, new lighting products, and their step drill bits.

What model is that chainsaw? Looks like an old wore out 029, along with a chain thats never been sharpened. Horrible comparison.

Nobody expects a battery-powered saw to go head to head with a gas model.

That being said, there’s definitely an upside to the m18 saw. No gas to mix and worry about going bad, great for occasional use/storm clean up, less downtime due to parts breaking, suitable to use inside if need be.

Well I see that Joe and Chris’s theory of Milwaukee tools barely functioning with standard batteries was shattered. Might not function full speed, but it still functions at an acceptable rate (No can do with Flexvolt). Well enough speed to finishing your work up if needed.

Agreed… but as the owner of (7) 9.0 batteries I would love to see how the chainsaw and table saw perform, and actual metrics on the differences… not just videos. It’s going to be disappointing if the 9.0s that were good enough for the blower/weeder do not have similar performance on the chainsaw at least.

Yup, for somehow Milwaukee is one of the most reputable brands today in the market especially here in Australia. I have several tools here which I brought at totaltools and a chainsaw at ****.au .. I like the you explained the features of the tools. Great job and keep it up!

You mean adding things like dado capability for their table saw? Milwaukee likely did some field research and found what users liked about the DeWalt saw, and what they’d like to see improved. DeWalt did the same when they copied Milwaukee’s rocket light design. Competition is good for the consumer!

Hold on there Ted, Does Dewalt make a 7″ – 9″ grinder? Nope, How about the Dewalt Reciprocating saw does it feature orbital action – Nope. Does Dewalt use just two battery systems (M12/M18) Nope they have Seven! (8V MAX, 12V MAX, 14.4V, 18V, 20V MAX, 40V MAX, 60V MAX) Does Dewalt use Li-Ion Battery technology patented by Milwaukee under an agreement approved by Milwaukee -Yep! I mean it’s a bit naïve to say one company “copies” another. I would tend to think the market drives the decisions to enter into certain tool designs/configurations and from there each company applies features and capacities they feel best suit both the tool limitations and industry demands. Affinity and allegiance to one certain brand is admirable but can also be blinding.

Milwaukee does own the patent for Li-Ion batteries that produce in excess of 20A and all of the modern battery packs from all the current tool MFRs use them. Like it or not it’s a fact. Perhaps you should get your facts straight eh Mike? Most of the other MFRs settled out of court (or without going to court while others have tried to fight it and lost in court, so I think it’s pretty clear which side the law falls on.

I believe they have a few patents but it’s not as cut and dry as you are saying. One is a technical loophole; a patent on 20A+ draw from lithium ion battery packs. I don’t know how that can be patentable. It’s like having a patent on producing 5 gallons+ from a hose. Makita was first with lithium ion. All of this patent stuff, and the suing of other companies by Milwaukee only leaves a bad opinion in the minds of the actual tool users. It likely does their image more harm than good when bragging about “the patent”.

I’m fine with copying in the tool industry. We all benefit from the competition!

This year Milwaukee copied:

Bosch with their 12V cut off tool and orbital recip saw, Metabo with their 18V table saw (although Metabo’s is a better 10 inch blade), Dewalt with their table saw and chainsaw, and Metabo and Makita with their 7-9 inch+ grinders.

In fact, have a good think about what they released. They all seem to be the tools (or features on tools) that made huge waves and got a lot of attention in recent years; the “hot topic” tool releases. This might be why Milwaukee chose them to be released rather than others. They’re big on marketing, and they were the big marketing/publicity tool releases of recent years. It’s likely why they refuse to bring out a new OMT, there’s not a lot of publicity or marketing value in doing so.

Soon everyone will likely be copying Milwaukee with their heat gun etc.

I would love to see the condition of the chains on there chain saws. Iam sure the m18 saw is good but that looks a lil sketchy to me…I hate to see false advertising bs like this. Especially from an otherwise outstanding tool manufacturer.

The Pack Out stuff is really nice, IMO the best portable tool boxes available right now. There definitely needs to be some better selection and of course availability, and they could sell a lot more by dropping the prices a little bit.

Somebody should have called bullshit and asked to see the chains during the demonstration of the chainsaw and they should have exposed how phony the demonstration was. The fact that they said it was a Stihl without saying the actual name makes it look even more phony. That gas powered saw looked like it was 10 years old and I doubt that it was a Stihl. Like I said before, they set up the demonstrations for their convenience and they are set up to make sure their products will outshine anything else during the demonstration. Which is why there will never be a dog & pony show that has all the big names under one roof. If the Milwaukee chainsaw is that good then why did they paint the other one gray? And I doubt Stihl donated one of their saws to Milwaukee for the demonstration. There’s no trademark or copyright infringement. So why did they paint it? And why did it look like the other dude wasn’t even trying to cut the wood? Like I said somebody should have called bullshit on Milwaukee, but they would probably throw you out and you probably wouldn’t be invited to the next one. Which is why the general public is not invited to these events.

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